Engine stands are mechanical tools used to support internal combustion engines during servicing or repair. Conventional engine stands typically comprise support structures to hold an engine in mid-air to allow a technician easy access to any area of the supported engine. Such stands support engines via their engine mounts or flywheel transmission cases. To enable ease of assembly and disassembly of an engine by a technician, engine stands are typically adapted to rotate an engine.
Most conventional engine stands require an engine to be rotated by hand and relies on friction and/or a locking bolt to secure the engine in a desired position. Technicians familiar with engine stands will readily attest to the fact that it can be rather difficult to rotate engines mounted on those stands, particularly where heavier engines are required to be rotated. To address this drawback some known engine stands incorporate a gearbox driven by an actuator.
Existing engine stands often tend to be difficult to secure to an engine. In the case of hand actuated engine stands, the engine is mounted to a mounting plate, the mounting plate spigot aligned and inserted to a head unit of the engine stand. Gearbox driven engine stands, on the other hand, require that an engine be bolted to a mounting plate or bolting of an engine mounting plate assembly to a mounting plate adapter. Both hand actuated and gearbox driven engine stands tend to be awkward to handle, and potentially dangerous, particularly when it is required to align their spigots or bolts respectively with a suspended engine of high mass.